EUROPA League
Ajax v Manchester United: The Past Meetings
Manchester United and Ajax Amsterdam are set for titanic clash on Wednesday as the 2016/2017 UEFA Europa League gets to its cresendo. Sports Village Square recalls that the trophy has a higher stake for Manchester United as it is the club’s only path to the next edition of the Champions League.
Ajax Amsterdam has already picked a Champions League slot from its domestic league. Winning the Europa Cup will not give the Netherland an additional slot, but the reverse is it for Manchester and England.
A win by Manchester United means England will have five teams in the Champions League.
Ajax and Manchester United have each won two of the clubs’ four previous encounters –
Ajax and Manchester United will be playing each other for the fifth time when they meet in this season’s UEFA Europa League final. They have two wins apiece as it stands.
Ajax 0-2 Man. United
Man. United 1-2 Ajax (agg: 3-2)
2011/12 UEFA Europa League round of 32
Goals in Amsterdam from Ashley Young and Javier Hernández put Sir Alex Ferguson’s side firmly in command, and the writing seemed to be on the wall for Frank de Boer’s men when ‘Chicharito’ was on target within six minutes of kick-off at Old Trafford. However, Aras Özbiliz equalised and the Red Devils – featuring current stars Young, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and David de Gea – were in panic mode in the closing minutes after Toby Alderweireld had made it 2-1 late on.
“We relaxed a bit and felt too complacent and if you do that against a team like Ajax, what happened to us can happen – you lose the game,” an irked De Gea said at full time. Present-day United defender Daley Blind came on in the second leg for Ajax, as they became the first Dutch club to avoid defeat at Old Trafford.
Ajax 1-0 Man. United
Man. United 2-0 Ajax (agg: 2-1)
1976/77 UEFA Cup first round
Ruud Krol’s strike 42 minutes into the first leg gave Tomislav Ivić’s team a slender advantage to take to Old Trafford, but – kitted all in green for the return match – Ajax came unstuck in England.
Lou Macari fired in from close range after Piet Schrijvers had spilled Gordon Hill’s shot just before the break, and Sammy McIlroy completed the turnaround with a close-range finish after a sequence of quick passes undid Ajax.
Back in Europe following a seven-year absence, United’s confidence was up. “We were that young, 100-mile-per-hour team coming through,” Hill recalled.
McIlroy added: “Once it went to 1-1, that shook them up a little bit. They had to change their game plan, they had to score. The United supporters roared us on.”
Four-times Europa League winner Unai Emery booked an astonishing sixth final in the competition as a manager on Thursday when his Aston Villa team swept aside Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English semi-final.
The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some fans and media.
Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side Freiburg.
“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We need to go and win it now.”
Emery was delighted with how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.
“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” for their fans.
Though thrilled at Thursday’s win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few times at the crowd before letting his players enjoy the moment with fans
He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but Emery was taking nothing for granted. “Of course German teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added of the upcoming opponents.
-Reuters
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List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:
Directly to the round of 16:
1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)
2. Aston Villa (England)
3. Midtjylland (Denmark)
4. Real Betis (Spain)
5. Porto (Portugal)
6. Braga (Portugal)
7. Freiburg (Germany)
8. AS Roma (Italy)
Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. SK Brann (Norway)
-Reuters
UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston
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Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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